Why I Have a Heart for Orphans

I have a heart for orphans. My own story is a vital piece of the puzzle why.

My folks divorced when I was 5. I lost my mom to cancer when I was 9, and my dad died not long after. I was orphaned and spent about a year in the foster-care system.

I know what it’s like to go to bed each night wondering if someone loves you.

That’s a tough place to be.

But that desperate feeling is a familiar one for an estimated 140 million orphans around the world – a number almost too overwhelming to think about.

Here in the United States, about 100,000 kids in foster care have moms and dads whose parental rights have been terminated. Another 300,000 have been placed in foster homes while the biological parents try to get their lives moving in the right direction.

That’s a lot of children whose parent is the government.

Christians have to be champions for the orphan. Family is God’s way of providing children with stability, permanence, and an identity.

Here at Focus, we’re doing what we can domestically to get more Christian families engaged in adoption. I would love to see the church lead the way in helping our country’s 100,000 orphans find homes with moms and dads who are committed to their lives.

To me, that’s a tangible expression of the Gospel message. Rescuing orphans should be a key part of our identity – it should be who we are and what we do.

Robert Glover is a social worker from England who responded to God’s call to rescue children in orphanages across China. His organization has helped thousands of children find loving families.

He’ll always remember his first encounter with an orphaned Chinese boy wearing a pair of shorts that didn’t fit, a ragged shirt, and worn-out shoes. He grabbed Robert’s hand and wouldn’t let go.

“How could I take my hand from his hand?” he wondered.

But there were so many children there, and they all needed someone who wouldn’t let go. What about them? At that moment, Robert committed to God that he would return and help that boy and many others. He couldn’t do everything for every child, but he could do something for some of them.

Robert Glover has quite a story to tell, and I invite you to hear him share it on our radio program. The first part aired yesterday, and we’ll conclude on today’s show. I think you’ll feel inspired by the divine ways God moved in Robert’s life to serve on behalf of orphans.

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Daly Focus

Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.